


Nook's Corner more like Nut's Corner

by kpopkinetics



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aggressive Keith, Alternate Universe - Animal Crossing Fusion, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, I came up with this au drunk, M/M, Oneshot, Pining Lance (Voltron), cus its her secret santa, kristy makes a feature, lil breakage of the fourth wall, sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 15:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13126734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpopkinetics/pseuds/kpopkinetics
Summary: Lance is stuck working part-time for Tom Nook after taking out a mortgage for his new house in Animal Crossing. What he wasn't expecting was to be saddled with a handsome, dark-haired colleague who also happens to be doing the same. Too bad Lance hates him.





	Nook's Corner more like Nut's Corner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [demondaze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/demondaze/gifts).



> To Kristy: Yes! I know this sounds bizarre, trust me, whilst writing this I thought that to myself many, many, many times. I just stared at the page and contemplated what sort of trash this was. However, I came up with this idea whilst I was drunk and stalking your twitter profile and managed to write about five hundred words on it before I woke up the next morning. I decided to stick with it, so here we are! Please forgive me for any plot holes or lack of background information or general inaccuracies I haven't played Animal Crossing in AGES since I was a kid but I did my best. I hope you don't find it too terrible. Merry Christmas!

“So, this is your new house! What colour would you like the roof?” chirruped the annoying raccoon gesturing wildly at the roof. Lance sighed, gazing upon it. It was a simple, small cottage, with a pointed roof and a small fence, complete with a quaint mailbox. Next to him, the small creek running parallel to his garden gurgled happily, as if oblivious to his growing annoyance. The raccoon bobbed up and down almost imperceivably as it awaited his answer.

“Uh, I don’t know. Blue?” He suggested. “That’s my favourite colour.”

Tom Nook, as he had introduced himself as previously, stared at him blankly.

“Uh, aqua? Turquoise? Cobalt? Ring any bells?”

The raccoon perked up. “Bells! Yes, only nineteen thousand, eight hundred bells, this house, a fantastic price if you ask me.”

“You know what? Never mind,” grumbled Lance. “It’s like talking to a computer or something.”

Tom cocked his head to the side, an inquisitive expression taking over his face.

“Are you sure you would like blue?”

“Yes,” snapped Lance.

“Alright then! If you need anything else, I’m usually in my shop, where we have the best prices! Come see me if you want to buy anything. Now, you’ve got your part-time job to help pay off your mortgage, I expect to see you early tomorrow. Your keys!”

“Thanks,” muttered Lance, accepting the keys as graciously as he could whilst restraining the urge to kick the annoying creature. He unlocked the front door and stomped inside, turning to survey the concrete walls and ugly bare floorboards with a grimace, balking when he noticed the cockroaches roaming free blissfully. Not for long.

“HYAAH,” screamed Lance, whipping out his best karate moves and swiping at the terrified bugs. They scattered, diving for the uninhabited musty corners of the house, evading the pitiful hand movements effectively. Lance, slightly embarrassed at his own antics, let his hands drop and opted for stamping on them instead. Lifting the bottom of his right shoe to inspect the sole, he pulled a rather unattractive face. “Gross.” He wiped it gingerly on the bottom step of the staircase. That debacle sorted, Lance hauled in the rest of his things; also known as nothing, and then trudged his way up to the tiny bedroom above the main house. Exhausted, he flopped down on the bed, clothes and all. Forgetting to blow the flickering candle out, he dropped into a deep slumber.

The next day, Lance awoke abruptly, hopping straight out of bed without thinking. He frowned and looked down. Why had he gotten out of bed so fast? It was unlike him, but he shrugged it off, and headed downstairs. A weird sense of finality accompanied him, as though sleeping had laid a blanket of permanence over his actions. Strange, he thought. Hands on hips, he surveyed the bleak room. _Jesus, this place looked depressing._

Grumpily, he pulled on the same clothes he wore yesterday, skipped all the necessities one was expected to perform before leaving the house, and stepped outside. The cool breeze swept past his face as the door swung close, bringing the smell of the sea and dead leaves. Not the most favourable smell, but still fresh, and most certainly better than the one inside. The grass let out pleasant crunching sounds under his feet as he strode forward, the frost cracking under his weight.

Lance’s mood increased considerably on his way there. It was hard not to be at peace; the ground was dappled a beautiful spectrum of warm crimsons; the birds were singing in the fluttering leaves of the trees and the small cute cottages were puffing out little streams of smoke. Animals of various species and colours wandered around. Several came up to him, introducing themselves with over-the-top enthusiasm and promises of unbreakable friendship. By the time Lance managed to make it to Nook’s Cranny, he’d gained six invitations to hang out and had been gifted a few items of varying value. He carried them in his pockets, which strangely seemed to be able to hold anything of any size.

The bell above the door rang out as he entered the shop gingerly. The walls were a simple plain log, stacked on top of one another. The room was dimly lit, barely illuminating the display rows of furniture, tools and paint. Lance took another step forward.

“Good morning!” came a voice behind his ear. Lance yelped in surprise, leaping forward into the shop in terror. He spun around to face the raccoon that he was beginning to think of more like an evil sleepy-eyed demon. Tom didn’t look at all perturbed by the violent reaction, and instead started rattling off instructions for Lance’s work that day. Lance did his best to follow along, despite Tom’s chattering voice. His first task apparently, was to change into his work uniform.

Accepting the rather ugly green shirt with the leaf logo, he made his way to the fitting room situated at the back of the store, nothing more than some pink and white pinstriped curtains on a rail. He reached forward, drew back the curtains that obscured the corner, and then screamed for the second time in three minutes.

The guy with the black mullet looked affronted.

“Uh, okay?” Mullet Dude said, seemingly not caring about his bare chest and unbuttoned jeans. He also carried an ugly uniform shirt, one which he had apparently been in the process of putting on. Lance’s eyes searched for a safe place to rest, flickering over Mullet Dude’s chest, the muscles in his arms, the waistband of his boxer briefs before deciding the patch of ceiling above his head was the best bet.

“Uh-“ He began, although he didn’t know what he was supposed to say. Before he got any further, the ear-grating chatterbox voice of Tom Nook popped up behind his ear again. This time, Lance managed to muffle his scream so that it came out as a manly squeak instead. At least, he hoped so.

“Excellent! I’m glad to see that you’ve managed to meet your colleague already. Lance, this is Keith, Keith this is Lance. Keith also works here part-time. He lives in the village across the way.” Tom Nook beamed as if this was the most exciting news ever. Lance managed a weak nod, dropping his eyes down to notice that Keith had managed to finish changing, and was now giving him a cold stare instead.

“I’ll meet you outside,” Keith stated, brushing past him and out the entrance. The bell above tinkled gently as a sharp gust of cold air blew in through the open doorway, making Lance shiver.

“I have to work outside?” Lance turned to Tom despairingly to confirm. “With him?” He added as an afterthought. Tom smiled, bobbing up and down again. It was giving Lance a little bit of seasickness to be honest.

“Your first task is to plant flowers outside of the shop!” Tom instructed brightly. Turning, he grabbed six dull looking bags of seed and handed them to Lance, who pocketed them with a look of confusion. Seeing this, Tom explained further: “I need a pretty front to attract more customers and given the natural vibe of this village, I think the flowers will be a great start when they bloom in the spring. Off you go.” Lance nodded, hurriedly changed into his work shirt, and then stepped out to embrace the cold.

He was greeted by the sight of Keith scowling at the ground, arms crossed defensively over his chest. _And I thought I wasn’t a morning person_ , thought Lance. He approached Keith gingerly, eyes lingering on the black strands of hair spilling over the top of the collar at his nape.

“So, uh, Tom said he wants us to plant some flowers,” Lance stated. Keith continued to glower at the innocent pebble at his feet. “Keith?”

“Yeah okay,” Keith muttered, turning away to look at Lance. His eyes were dark and striking, and full of intelligence as he studied Lance for a moment. Lance fidgeted a little, feeling uncomfortable in the way that Keith’s eyes scanned him up and down, as if analysing him.

Keith turned away. “The first thing we have to do is pull up these weeds,” He informed Lance, nudging one of the afore-mentioned weeds with his shoe. Lance peered over to see two tiny shoots sticking up from the ground. “You have to make sure you pull them up by the root,” continued Keith. “Like this.” He grabbed the weed right at the base of where it was buried in the hard soil, and pulled. The muscles in his arms and back flexed as he placed his weight against the hard earth and pulled. The roots came up in hands, leaves falling apart. He glanced at Lance. “Think you can handle that?”

“Yes,” Lance said, feeling a little insulted. He wasn’t completely stupid, like this pale broody definitely-not-handsome man was making him out to be. Okay so maybe he didn’t have an IQ of one hundred and fifty-eight, but you didn’t need to be a rocket science to pull out weeds. Keith didn’t seem to respond to the underlying tone of his answer though, just silently moving away and starting on a clump growing next to the corner of the shop. Wordlessly, Lance headed to the other side to do the same. The two worked silently, more because of the air of hostility Keith was radiating more than anything. After the last of the weeds were gone from Lance’s vision, he straightened, surveying the garden proudly. Twisting to the left, he heard three distinctive cracks as he stretched his aching back and he let out a little groan of satisfaction.

“Gross.”

Lance looked towards Keith, who had his head bowed as he pulled out the last weed on his side. He furrowed his brows as he processed the meaning behind his words.

“What, me cracking my back?” Lance asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Keith looked up at Lance accusingly. “It just is. I don’t want to hear your rusty bones clicking back into place. It’s unsettling.”

“You’re unsettling,” Lance wanted to retort but kept his mouth shut and glanced towards the heavens instead. Clouds drifted amicably over the sky, uncaring of his suffering at the sharp tongue of this raven-haired man. The sun shone brightly in oblivion. Swallowing his irritation, he turned back to his unwilling companion and handed him three of the seed packets.

“You do your side and I’ll do mine. Okay?”

Keith grunted in affirmation and, standing up, took the seed packets from Lance. Their hands brushed momentarily. Lance gulped, grabbing a shovel propped up against the side of the store and hurriedly making his way back to the fresh patch of dirt he had cleared. He didn’t want to think about the weird tingle that had shot through him at the slight contact. Nor the way that the hair had tousled Keith’s stupid hair so that he looked perfectly windswept. Who even had mullets nowadays anyway? This was the countryside!

He shoved the shovel rather aggressively into the ground, grunting when it didn’t make it more than a few centimetres deep. The ground was hard and brittle, a result of the oncoming winter. Lance set the shovel down and peeked around the front of the store to observe how Keith was doing it. Watching closely, he noticed how Keith placed his foot on the top of the shovel to use his weight to help drive it down into the earth, making it look infuriatingly easy. Lance huffed, picking up his shovel again and trying again.

“Stupid- shitty- shovel-” He grunted ten minutes later, punctuating each word with a slam of it against the ground. Keith sat cross-legged behind him, leaning against a tree with a bored expression as he watched Lance shout at the ground. Three little dark patches of freshly turned soil lay on his side of the store.

“Do you want me to do it? Since you’re clearly inept?” He eventually called out. Lance turned and scowled at him, throwing the shovel to the side.

“Like you could,” Lance huffed petulantly. “You obviously got the easy side.” He aimed a kick at the ground as if to berate it for not co-operating. Keith sighed, getting to his feet and stretching. He drifted over mutely, picking up the shovel where it had been cast aside. Right in front of Lance’s eyes, he slid the shovel into the soil as easily as if it were butter, looking effortless as he quickly constructed a shallow hole. Two others quickly followed.

“I trust you can scatter a few seeds and then cover them over?” Keith said, holding the shovel out to Lance once he was finished. Although his face was blank, a small smirk pulled up the right corner of his lips ever so slightly, and a smugness gleamed in the depths of his eyes. Lance turned bright red, snatching the shovel back angrily and turning his back towards Keith. Pretending like it hadn’t happened, he tore open the packets of seeds, shaking them into the holes and swiftly covering them with the loose dirt Keith had pulled up. He grabbed the nearby watering can and drizzled water over the mounds, so they were a dark rich brown in colour. Finally satisfied, he walked to the front of the store to admire his work from the front.

“What the fuck?”

“What?” asked Keith, raising his eyebrows. He had returned back to his perch underneath the tree and was munching on an apple that he had plucked from its branches.

“You dug the holes in two completely different patterns! They’re not symmetrical at all!”

“So?”

“So?” exclaimed Lance, throwing his hands up in the air. “So? So, it looks a mess! Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t think about it.” Keith shrugged his shoulders, taking a bite out of his apple. He chewed noisily as Lance stared at him.

“We have to fix it!” Lance gestured wildly at the offending clumps of dirt. Keith didn’t even look up.

“As far as I’m concerned,” He said slowly, “We don’t have to fix anything. You fix it if it bothers you.”

Lance crossed his arms over his chest and breathed deeply through his nose. His entire body thrummed with pent-up anger towards the harsh attitude of this man. As he watched, Keith finished his apple, threw the core aside and shifted to get more comfortable against the tree. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

It was there, in the cold autumn breeze, under the morning sun, Lance decided that he hated Keith Kogane.

 

* * *

 

Life in this strange village wasn’t so bad, Lance found out. Sure, most of the people in it seemed to be animals, and yes, everyone was overbearingly friendly at all times, but there were pretty flowers and there were always lots of fish and Lance was even beginning to get over his seasickness from Tom Nook’s constant bobbing.  
  
The part-time work was a little dull, to be honest. He’d had to go around the entire town and meet everyone a couple of days ago, a sullen Keith at his side. It was tense between the two after Lance had had a full-blown tantrum that first day after Keith had refused to help him fix the symmetry of the flowers. Looking back, it did seem a bit foolish but come on! The guy had been driving him up the wall all morning and it was only natural for Lance to get his frustrations out somehow.

He was on his way currently to deliver a package to Kristy, one of the only humans living in this village. She lived on the beach side, quite a way away from Nook’s Corner but he didn’t mind the walk. The nature was the one thing he had managed to find a true appreciation for in the past week, and even better, he didn’t have bloody Keith with him. Nope, Keith was on the other side of the village doing his own deliveries.

He arrived in front of a pretty cottage, the waves gently crashing on the beach behind him. Double checking the map he held to confirm that this house was the right one, he tentatively knocked on the door. Barely two seconds later, it swung open almost instantly with a whooshing sound, startling him into taking a step back.

“Yes?” A female voice called out excitedly. Lance peered into the gloom of the house, trying to make out the figure stood inside. His eyes adjusted to see a pretty girl, maybe seventeen, with an excited expression standing just inside the doorway. He immediately changed his features into a schooled flirty look, propping up one arm above the doorway, the wrapped parcel in the other hand.

“Hey there,” He gave her his best smirk. “Package for Kristy?”

“Yes!” She cried excitedly, snatching the package out of his hand. He blinked, watching her completely ignore his amazing flirting in favour of starting to rip the paper off the parcel.

“Hey, what do you have in there that’s so exciting?” He asked, puzzled. She tore the last of the paper off and held the box above her head triumphantly.

“The Voltron Legendary Defender set of Lions,” She proclaimed, eyes wide and reverent. She seemed entranced, turning the box over in her hands in awe. Lance subtly cleared his throat, his brows furrowed.

“Voltron the Legendary Defender? The TV show? Ever heard of it?” She elaborated, on seeing his confused expression. He shook his head. “It’s about these five paladins, they each have their own lion which combine to make this-” She shook the box in her hand lightly. “Voltron. And they go around saving the universe and defeating the evil Galra empire… You have no idea what I’m on about, do you?” She faltered off, noticing the blankness of Lance’s features. “Whatever. It’s super cool.”

“Well, you know what else is super cool?” Lance did an exaggerated stretch of pushing his arms up and out, intended to show his muscles flexing. “Me. Say, are you busy tomorrow night, or-”

“Wait, aren’t you like, gay?” interrupted Kristy. Now it was her turn to look confused.

“Gay?” exclaimed Lance. “I’m not gay!” Kristy didn’t look convinced.

“Are you sure? Because I’ve seen you going around with that guy with the mullet and you seemed to be pining over him pretty badly.”

“What, you mean Keith?” Lance let out a huge fake laugh of disbelief, emphasising how ridiculous the idea was by slapping his hand on his knee. He topped it off with wiping away a few imaginary tears, shaking his head slowly. Keith? He, and Keith? Out of all the people in the world, there’s nobody he would pine over less.

“Yeah, there’s no way,” He informed her, letting out a few chuckles. “I’d rather date an alien than him.”

“Whatever,” She said, clearly not believing him. “Anyway, I have your reward, if you wait here a second.” She disappeared into the house, returning with a two-foot long sword with a red streak running through the middle of it. Lance screeched as he caught sight of it, backing away from her in haste.

“Calm down, dude! It’s just a replica! It’s not sharp or anything.”

He froze in the middle of reversing, one foot hovering on the edge of her garden.

“It’s a replica of the Red Paladin’s sword. I wouldn’t give it to you since it’s pretty expensive, but I was actually sent another the other day, so I have doubles now. If you don’t want it feel free to give it to your boyfriend to see if he’d like it.” She explained. Lance didn’t know what to say.

“Blue’s my favourite colour,” He informed her. She narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
“The Blue Paladin carries a laser rifle.” She said. “I’m not in the habit of possessing firearms.”

“Oh, but two feet-long giant swords of death are okay?” he retorted, before seeing her gradually darkening expression. “I mean, thank you.” He stepped forward and took the sword out of her hands, touching it to his pocket. It sucked into it magically.

“No problem,” She smiled, suddenly cheery. “Have a nice day!” And closed the door on his face. Lance shook his head.

“Nutty fangirls.”

He turned and started the walk back up to Nook’s corner. Sometime during their conversation it had started raining, and he reached into his pocket to take out the umbrella he carried. It expanded as he drew it out, a rainbow design stretching from the middle to the tips.

“Okay, so what if I am gay,” He muttered as he stomped along, kicking pebbles. “How could she tell?” He wondered.

He arrived back at the clearing that the store was situated in, finding it empty and void of anyone. Keith must not have returned from his deliveries yet. As they had to go and report to Tom Nook together, that meant Lance had to wait for him. Ten minutes passed by. Lance sighed, bored. He went into his pocket to grab an apple to munch on, but his fingers brushed the hilt of the sword instead. He slid his hand along it, feeling the cool slide of the metal before the temptation was too much and he drew it out to look at it once more.

It was a beauty to look at, the hilt curved into a semi-circle of some kind with a blue gem at its centre. The blade was a simple straight line coming to a point, but the red metal that ran through it was formed into an arrow shape, widening at the bottom. The rain slipped off the sides, and ran down and over Lance’s hand. Curiously, he raised it over his head, dropping the umbrella.

“Hya!” He cried, dropping it down in a cleaving motion. It dropped in a deadly slash. He marvelled at the weight of it, even as a replica. He brought it up again, this time swiping to the side in a slashing action. The light glimmered off it, making it shimmer even in the overcast light.

“What are you doing?” Keith’s voice echoed across the clearing. Lance froze. Was it just him, or did he hear something other than irritation in Keith’s voice? Was that… amusement?  
  
“Practicing my fencing skills, obviously,” He replied, fixing his expression into a cool smirk and spinning around to face Keith. He planted the edge of the sword in the wet grass, leaning against it casually. Instead of the sneer he was expecting though, Keith was gazing at the sword with wonder in his eyes.

“Wow…” He murmured. Lance looked between the sword and Keith.

“You, uh, want it?” He offered unsurely. “The girl I delivered to gave it to me as a gift, said I could give it to my boyf- to you if I didn’t want it.”

“Do you want it?” Keith asked, suddenly looking adorably hopeful. The truth was, Lance kind of did, especially now that he’d seen how cool it was but for the first time, he was being faced with Keith’s puppy eyes and he was powerless to their charms.

“Nah,” He shrugged, offering it to Keith. “I mean, you can have it, I guess.”

And then Keith smiled, a genuine, honest smile that left Lance reeling. Even through the rain it looked beautiful (Beautiful? He thought. I really am gay.) on him, much better than the scowls and frowns he had adorned previously. His whole demeanour changed, and he looked more welcoming, even… cute?

“Thanks,” Keith said softly.

“Uh, yeah, hm, okay,” Replied Lance gracefully. Keith flashed him that smile once more before turning to head inside out of the rain, Lance following after a moment.

Maybe Keith wasn’t so bad after all.

 

* * *

 

“Your last task,” Tom Nook told them, standing behind the counter, “Is to go and put up an advertisement for the shop on the town bulletin board. I want you to work and come up with something spectacular together! Something that will attract many customers, perhaps. After you complete this, I’ll give you both your wages of one thousand, four hundred bells taken off from your mortgages and you’ll both be free to do whatever you want to pay off the rest. Understood?”

Lance and Keith both nodded. Despite being glad to finally be rid of having to do the stupid, menial tasks that Tom Nook had set them with, there was sort of a melancholy feeling in the air. Lance was used to the routine of waking up and going to work already and he was going to miss the structure it gave to his life.

It definitely had nothing to do with not having an excuse to see Keith again.

Except it did, he thought, as they made their way down the path to the Town Hall together. Ever since he gifted the Paladin Sword to Keith that rainy afternoon, the animosity between them had pretty much vanished. They exchanged smiles when they saw each other in the morning, they were polite; they even made conversation. Keith was fascinating to listen to, had a sharp intelligence about him that intrigued Lance, one that made him crave to know all of his opinions and every one of his stories.

It wasn’t just that though. He caught himself watching Keith at random intervals, when he was deep in concentration of whatever task he had been assigned and didn’t notice. He noticed the furrow of his brows, the way he somehow managed to pull off the ugly uniform. The stupid mullet and how the bangs framed his eyes and face. His slender nose and striking jawline.

And when they were talking, he had noticed the hidden fondness when he spoke of his friends in the other village, Shiro and Pidge. He noticed the genuine interest on his face when Lance told him about his own friends, Hunk and Allura in return.

It wasn’t until that moment, walking next to Keith with their shoulders brushing, that Lance realised that he had developed a huge crush on the silent, strong man next to him. _“I’ve seen you going around with that guy with the mullet and you seemed to be pining over him pretty badly,_ ” rang Kristy’s words in his head. He cursed her silently. Of course he had ended up falling for the one, broody, fucking hot dude that was completely and utterly straight. Just look at him! Everything about him screamed heterosexual. Give him a cigarette, maybe trim the hair and he wouldn’t be out of place in a club with a joint between his lips, and a girl on his knee.

The realisation, although somewhat depressing made him feel self-conscious, the object of his thoughts no more than thirty centimetres away. They were crowded together on the path to avoid the muddy sides, and their hands kept brushing, sending small tingles into Lance’s stomach. He wondered if Keith was uncomfortable, but he hadn’t made to move away or walk ahead. Hopeful butterflies started to form in Lance’s gut at his close proximity.

It was short-lived however, as they reached the plaza, as Keith broke away, striding up to the bulletin board. Lance watched him, allowing his eyes to wander down freely…

“So where should it go?” Keith asked. Lance’s eyes snapped up and he felt his face go crimson.

“What?” He asked stupidly. Keith blinked, puzzled at Lance’s spreading blush across his cheeks.

“Uh… the advertisement?”

“Oh…” Lance strode forward himself to inspect the cluttered board. “There.” He jabbed his finger at a spot where there were slightly less post-it notes, a bit higher up. Keith reached into his pocket and drew out a pen, handing it to Lance.

“Thanks,” Lance said, grabbing a fresh post-it note from the pile at the bottom and sticking it where he had indicated before. He placed the nib of the pen to the paper before realising he had no idea what to write. “Uh… what do I write here?”

He waited for Keith’s reply, but didn’t receive one. He was about to turn around and check if Keith was still there when he felt someone step up right behind him. Hot breath hit the nape of his neck as Keith very gently pressed himself against his back to see the piece of paper. Lance stiffened all over, but Keith ignored it.

“I don’t know,” Keith said slowly. “How about something like, ‘Nook’s Corner has unparalleled prices and the most exquisite products?’ Come and check it out today.’” Lance started writing as he spoke, doing his best to ignore the warmth from Keith’s body pressed into his and the searing flush creeping up the back of his neck and ears which would definitely be visible from where Keith was standing. He paused when he got to ‘exquisite’.

“Uh, how do you spell that?” He asked meekly. His voice came out as a breathless whisper, and Lance inwardly cursed at how affected he sounded by something so simple as Keith touching him. Albeit it was head to toe. He waited for Keith’s reply, pen at the ready, when he jolted as a large hand covered his, threading through his fingers to prise the pen from them.

“E-X-Q-U…” Keith breathed out against the back of his ear, writing it for Lance. Lance stared directly forward, studying the veins in Keith’s hands and how they flexed. He noted with some satisfaction, the roughness that Keith’s voice also held. Maybe it wasn’t just him.

Keith finished the word and wordlessly, Lance took the pen from him and finished the rest of the text. They stayed pressed together, until Lance had etched the last letter. Keith stepped back and Lance took in a big huge breath of air, not realising he hadn’t really been breathing. He tried to catch Keith’s eye, but Keith was stubbornly staring at the ground.

“We should head back.”

“… Alright.”

They trudged back in silence, much like they had come in but this time a tension crackled in the air between them. Even the animals must have felt it, because none of them approached them and simply continued on their respective wanderings. Lance kept flickering his eyes towards Keith, hoping to see him looking back at Lance as well but he was staring stoically forward. Lance sighed. Obviously, Keith had noticed his blush and felt weirded out. He probably just did that to be helpful and he didn’t think anything of it, though Lance gloomily. His voice was just rough because of hay fever or something.

They arrived back at the store far more quickly than Lance would have liked. Tom Nook was already standing outside, waiting for them.

“Well done, you’ve completed your last few tasks! Thank you so for all your hard work these past few weeks!” Tom chattered. “I’ve already taken the bells off of your mortgage, so you’re free to go. Keep the shirts as a parting gift!”

There was a moment of silence between them as Tom turned, uncaring, back inside his shop. The wind swirled around them. Lance could see the little six mounds of dirt alongside the store faintly. They looked like they were drying out. He’d have to come and water them again later.

“So, I have to go and catch my bus…” Keith said, shifting in place. He was still refusing to look at Lance directly.

“I’ll come with?” offered Lance tentatively. “I’m headed that way anyway.” He wasn’t, actually, but if this was the last time he was going to see Keith then he was going to take every opportunity he could get to spend some last moments with him. He wondered if in twenty years, he’d be telling his grandchildren about Keith Kogane, the handsome dark-haired man who had got away.

“Sure.” Keith agreed. It was a short walk from the store to the bus stop anyway. They turned that way and started walking together, the tension from before again back. Lance gulped. He turned to Keith to break the silence, to say something, _anything_ but his shoe caught on a rock and he yelped as he tumbled forward. The world turned into a blur around him as the ground plummeted up towards his face at an alarming rate.

Then there were hands catching him as Keith leapt forward, only to lose his balance as well, and tumble down with him. They fell in a mess of limbs and pebbles, ending with Keith sprawled over Lance as he groaned in pain on the dirt path.

“Shit,” Keith tried to scrabble up off of the other man but his hands skidded on a loose stone and he fell forward again onto Lance’s chest, earning a pained “oof!” from the poor victim.

“I’m sorry!” Keith panicked. He didn’t move in fear of hurting Lance again. Lance made a weak sound of pain in response. They simply laid there for thirty seconds, Keith’s face on Lance’s chest, one thigh between his legs and a hand on his waistband before Lance decided that if he didn’t get Keith off him right now, he was going to do something stupid like rut against his thigh.

“Keith.” He tapped weakly at Keith’s side to let him know it was okay to move. Keith propped himself over Lance slowly, cautious in his movements. _What a fantastic angle_ , Lance thought as he got a view of Keith propped over him in push-up position. _I’d love to explore it further._

Unfortunately for him, Keith managed to straighten up, dusting off his clothes. He held one hand out to Lance, who accepted graciously and let himself be pulled to his feet. They stared at each other for a moment. Lance wondered if they were supposed to ignore the very compromising position they had just been in, a thought that was confirmed when Keith gave an embarrassed laugh and turned to continue on his way. The bus stop was actually within sight now through the trees. They walked, or in Lance’s case limped their way over just as the bus pulled up.

Keith hesitated.

“So I guess this is it?” He said, turning to look at Lance properly for the first time since the Bulletin Board Incident as Lance had already named it in his head. Keith’s cheeks were flushed, his lips slightly parted, his hair messy from falling. There was a scrape on his cheek that was starting to scab over. He looked beautiful.

“Yeah,” Lance replied, a fraction too late. He had been too busy taking in all of Keith’s features for the last time, trying to commit it to memory. “I guess this is goodbye?”

Keith’s lips pulled up into a sad smile.  
  
“Goodbye then, I guess.” He turned and placed a foot onto the bus step, hand coming up to reach the handle to pull himself in. Lance froze. Was he really just going to sit here and watch Keith drive out of his life after being pinned to a bulletin board by him? After having seen what it would be like to be caged below him? After having listened to his voice and watched him work for the past few weeks and after being captivated by all that he was? He saw his reflection in the bus window, his hair a mess, but his eyes sad and his lips downturned. His mouth made the decision before his brain had the chance.

“Keith!” He shouted. Keith paused and looked back at him, and Lance recognised the shine in his eyes, for he’d seen it in his own many times. Keith was hopeful. Keith was hoping for something from Lance.

 _Come on Lance_ , he berated himself. _Are you the king of flirting or what?_

Tilting his head back, he ran a hand through his hair and gave Keith a saucy wink that had Keith sporting a crimson blush to contrast with his black hair. Lance puffed out his chest a little. Granted, it probably wasn’t his best performance but considering half his body was throbbing with pain and he looked like he’d been dragged through a bush backwards, he was working with what he got.

“I assume you’re not that busy since we both just finished our work so, any chance you’d like to grab dinner with me one night?” He offered. He tried not to let his tension show as he awaited Keith’s answer, grasping onto the hopefully cool smirk he had going for him.

Keith lit up like a string of fairy lights. “I’d like that very much, thanks,” He answered, a gorgeous smile spreading over his features. Taking his foot off of the step, he strode over to Lance in two quick steps and, taking his face in his hands gently, gave him a chaste kiss to the corner of his lips. Too stunned to move, Lance could only watch as Keith gave a little giggle before jumping on the bus. “Thursday!” Keith yelled over his shoulder as the bus door hissed and closed. “I’ll meet you by the bridge!”

The bus pulled away, leaving a cloud of dust rising slowly into the air. Lance brought his fingers up to where Keith had placed his kiss, feeling over the spot. An indescribable happiness welled up within him and heart sang in his chest as he gazed into the distance, eyes glazed over. A wandering frog came up to him, concerned.

“Lance, ribbit! Are you okay, buddy? You look a little lost.”

“Huh? Oh yeah. I’m perfect, thanks.” Lance gave the frog a reassuring smile.

He had a good feeling about Keith Kogane.


End file.
